


Pinpricks Of Blood

by HMSquared



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Author's Favorite, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dialogue Light, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Injury, Love Confessions, M/M, Mild Blood, Present Tense, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28850199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMSquared/pseuds/HMSquared
Summary: Steve knows he’s dying. He knows Bucky might never remember. But he has to try.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Kudos: 12





	Pinpricks Of Blood

Steve’s grip uncontrollably loosens. He tumbles to the ground in front of the terminal and looks down. There’s a splotchy bullet wound in his chest, just below his heart and lung. Bucky is still standing on the glass floor below.

He swallows, suddenly aware of every breath. Steve grabs the catwalk and climbs back up to his feet. His hip hisses in pain, but there’s nothing he can do about it.

Hill is counting in his ear. Steve quietly pulls the earpiece off and tosses it across the room. His knee threatens to buckle. Forcing the glass case open, he trades the server blades.

It’s done. The ship will be going down in a matter of moments, and he won’t get to see it.

Steve hits the catwalk a second time. Back pressed against the case, he looks up. Bucky’s fingers dangle on the edge as he pulls himself forward.

Now the Winter Soldier is standing across from him, eyes cold and mournful. The gun isn’t in his hand. He simply has to watch.

“Bucky.” Steve looks his best friend in the eye, blue on blue. His heart rate is slowing, and he knows it. He swallows for the final time. “I love you.”

A bullet slams into the carrier, but Bucky doesn’t feel or hear it. He’s transported back to the 1940s, back before HYDRA.

There’s Steve, a stick figure of a boy. Blonde and kind and the best friend Bucky could ask for. He smiles, asking if he can enlist too. The future Winter Soldier shakes his head and says no.

Now they’re at the expo. Steve is staring at him. Bucky raises his hand in salute. His best friend mouths something, but he doesn’t catch it amidst the chaos.

_I love you._

Bucky snaps back into the present. The carrier is rocking like a leaf, pieces of metal crashing around him. His eyes fall to Steve.

He could be asleep were it not for the bullet holes in his chest. Bucky’s so overcome with emotion, he stumbles and nearly throws up.

The glass case is threatening to break. The floor looks about the same. Bucky scoops Steve into his arms, takes a deep breath, and jumps.

The water is cold, but not frigid. Bucky swims for shore, which isn’t easy with Steve trailing behind him. Dodging a few pieces of debris, he breaks the surface of the water and collapses onto dry land.

After taking a few seconds to collect himself, he checks for a pulse. There isn’t one. Holding Steve’s wrist in his hand, Bucky looks him over.

He doesn’t want to remove the mask covering his friend’s face. Steve sacrificed his life as Captain America, and that is what he’ll be known as. But does the public really want to see that image of him, masked and bloody? Shaking his head, Bucky slowly pulls it off.

He looks exactly the same. There aren’t any traces of blood or pain on Steve’s face. Bucky winces; he knows the worst scars aren’t physical.

A tiny part of him always suspected. A tiny part of him always questioned the smiles Steve threw his way. They were genuine, Bucky just always wondered if there was… romance to them.

He doesn’t personally swing that way. But now, sitting on the riverbank, he sighs.

“I wish you could’ve told me, Steve. I get why you didn’t.” Bucky continues to hold his wrist until his fingers go numb.


End file.
